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EHAM QTH QRZ ARRL HRO ICOM KENWOOD YAESU 6PM 145.130 NET FRIDAY EDITION: It is supposed to be humid and hot today, we will see. Band conditions were not great yesterday afternoon, I thought my antennas had dropped to the ground.......
Have you ever ever jumped into something and realized you made a big mistake?
THURSDAY EDITION: Early start today, had the AC unit installed before breakfast, we ony need it a few days a summer with the cool ocean breeze across the street...
No, it’s not some massive conspiracy, and yes, the space above our planet is getting increasingly and worryingly crowded with satellites and space junk. It’s just that humans and the things we build are tiny compared to the vastness of our planet. There are about 4,256 human-made satellites orbiting the Earth, of which about 1,149 are still working. Most of these are fairly small, ranging from tiny CubeSats that are only four inches on each side to communications satellites that can be over 100 feet long. That’s still tiny when you consider that the Earth is 7,917.5 miles across. Even our space station is puny when compared to our planet. Measuring 357 feet end-to-end, the International Space Station (ISS) is by far the largest human-made object orbiting the Earth. Even that isn’t large enough to register on Earth-observing instruments such as the DSCOVR satellite’s EPIC camera, which takes absolutely gorgeous pictures of the Earth from a million miles away. Jay Herman, the lead scientist of EPIC, says that the smallest objects EPIC’s camera can make out are about eight to 10 kilometers wide. At that range, the ISS wouldn’t even register as a blip in an image of the Earth. ven satellites with closer vantage points and higher resolutions are out of luck. NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites carry the MODIS (or Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instrument and operate only about 440 miles above the Earth’s surface. “With the MODIS satellite, which has a resolution of one kilometer, you’d probably barely be able to make out something like the ISS,” says Herman. “If it did pass through the field of view, you might see a bright spot, but you wouldn’t see many details, so it would be really hard to identify.” And that’s only if the ISS and Terra or Aqua happened to be in the same area.That’s not to say that there are no orbiting observatories capable of taking images of other satellites or space junk. “Some of the commercial high-resolution satellites would be able to see the ISS and probably even smaller spacecraft,” Herman says. But even then, it’s a matter of perspective and position. Satellites are designed to not crash into each other, which means that it’s very rare that their paths cross, and many of them operate at different altitudes. The ISS orbits at a height of around 250 miles, for example, while other satellites orbit closer to Earth or much further away. “The commercial satellites would be able to see the ISS, which is in a fairly low orbit,” Herman says. “But they wouldn’t be able to see MODIS, which is in a higher orbit than the commercial high-resolution satellites.” “The ISS is in an equatorial orbit, so it goes north and south of the equator, but not all the way to the poles,” Herman says. Many other satellites, including the commercial satellites, he says, orbit the Earth on a polar orbit, heading North to South. “The probability of a satellite [like the ISS] being in the field of view is not zero, but it’s small, because they’re in almost perpendicular orbits.” And even if it seems invisible in the wide-angle images of Earth, that doesn’t mean that space junk isn’t a highly visible problem to people involved in spaceflight. Infographics show how very crowded the space around our planet has become. “There’s a lot of space junk up there,” says Herman. “In fact, the ISS has to maneuver occasionally to get out of the way of stuff that NORAD tracks with radar.” Much of that space junk is small, ranging from paint chips to baseball-sized pieces of debris that were once part of Chinese, Russian, or American satellites. These pieces wouldn’t be immediately visible in images, but they still have the potential to cause real problems in space. “The velocities are so high that if a little piece of junk hit you it would do a lot of damage,” Herman says. Just last spring, an errant fragment chipped a window of the ISS. But for many people, seeing is believing. There is one way to spot the denizens of Earth’s orbit, but it doesn’t involve radar tracking, satellites, or photographs. Just go outside on a clear night with little moonlight, find a spot with minimal light pollution and look up at the stars. Once your eyes adjust, you should be able to see small pinpricks of light moving steadily across the sky, smaller and steadier than an airplane. Those are some of the hundreds of satellites that are large and low enough to be spotted from Earth. While the smaller objects that make up the majority of items floating around our planet are far too tiny to ever be seen with the naked eye, there are enough large satellites orbiting the Earth that you should be able to spot at least a few. All you have to do is look up.
WEDNESDAY EDITION: I cannot find a lot of info on setting up an endfed dipole. I have a Balun Design 9-1 Unun and put the balun a foot above ground and slope 53 feet (suggested length) of antenna wire up to 30' in the air. I fed the setup with 73 feet of coax running under the sloping wire. It worked but are there better options? Should I run the wire up 30 feet vertically (I have a 30 foot telescoping pole) and slope the rest of the antenna wire down? Should the unun be up 30 feet and run wire out vertically or sloped? Any ideas? I use this antenna only as a backup or for portabe ops, it is not my main antenna.....TRIVIA: There are about 3 million amateur radio operators worldwide, including more than 700,000 licensed operators in the United States alone. Amateur radio operators are also known as radio amateurs or hams. It's CLE time once again. This is a challenge for all newcomers to NDB listening and the ultimate test of your medium frequency receiving capabilities. Can you meet the challenge?
'CLE's
are 'Co-ordinated Listening Events,
and NDB DXers
around the world
focus their
listening time
on one small
slice of the
NDB spectrum.
It's a little
different this
time, with
beacon hunters
asked to report
NDBs heard on
any and all
of the 10kHz
markers only ...
ie. 350, 360 ..
A central
target for listeners
in North
America is YIV
- 300 kHz in Island
Lake, Manitoba. Listen
for YIV's upper
sideband on 300.401
kHz. YIV's
500 watts is
widely heard
throughout North
America and has
been logged in
Europe. Can you
find it?
When tuning
for NDBs,
put your
receiver in
the CW mode and
listen for
the NDB's CW
identifier,
repeated
every few
seconds.
Listen for
U.S. NDB
identifiers
approximately
1 kHz higher
or lower
than the
published
transmitted
frequency
since these
beacons are
modulated
with a 1020 Hz
tone
approximately. Story from a ham friend- Curt in Littleton, NH
Robin Hard It’s
early
summer. The
grandchildren
are due up.
That means
unless I
schedule
some outdoor
adventures I
will be
losing a
great many
board games.
I hate to
lose. Those
kids play
Monopoly
like the mob
runs
casinos.
Secret
deals,
ganging up
on the
suckers, all
of it.
Everything
but
kneecapping
the winners. My plan
year before
last was to
build a
large arrow
target,
which I did,
and take
them out to
teach them
archery.
This
backfired. I
had not
pulled a
bowstring
since summer
camp when I
was 10 years
old. The
result was
that both my
grandchildren
were much
better shots
than I was.
(As in hit
the target
at all).
Their bows
had bunnies
and kitty
stickers,
but shot ok.
I had
ordered them
from a
professional
bow shop. So I was
ready this
year. I had
gone on the
Internet,
looked at
the prices
of
professional
archery
gear, and
after a
really bad
sticker
shock
($1750),
finally
found some
gear at a
discount.
The item in
question
“Adult
Compound
Quality
Target Bow”
was only
$120, but
the pop up
said that
bow shipped
(disassembled)
but for an
additional
$50 I could
get
“professional
setup” which
was strongly
recommended. What a
scam! I
remembered
from camp.
Bow + string
= assembled.
I sent the
$120. When it
arrived, I
was puzzled.
The box was
two feet
long, but
very heavy.
Inside were
multiple
plastic bags
and a large
warning not
to lose
anything
opening the
bags. I
cleared the
dinner
table, got
the
scissors,
and took
inventory.
There were
cables,
there were
pulleys,
there were
bushings,
there were
circlips,
there was a
bowstring,
bow pieces,
and poor
instructions.
I had no
idea. Back to
the Internet
and I found
a copy of
“The
Compound
Bow” for
$24, with
only $12 for
express
shipping. It
came the
next day,
and I began
bolting the
thing
together. I
then
discovered I
needed a
“bow press”,
which bent
the bow
while you
struggled
with the
cables. I got the
bow press
($40), tried
to put the
cables on,
and was
defeated.
Each pully
had not one
setting, but
five. I was
lost. The
pictures
were unclear
and the
Chinglish
baffling.
Fortunately,
I had the
number of a
Bow Shop
which had
been very
helpful in
getting the
kid’s bows,
so I called
them. “World of Archery, Shop services, can I help you “Curt.
You helped
me with
buying my
grand kids’s
bows last
year.” There was
a silence.
Then. “Oh yes,
I clearly
remember
you, Sir. I
had to take
my migraine
medicine.” “I am
having a
little
trouble
assembling a
bow.” “What
Brand?” “Er, Feng
Shui
Champion.” There was
a patient
silence. “Do you
have a piece
of paper? A
big one? Sit
down, and I
will give
you the
instructions.” Ten
minutes and
$100 later,
I had a
complete set
of
instructions
in English
and an order
for the
other things
I would
need. This
guy, I
believed Four
hours later,
I had the
bow
assembled,
and strung.
I was ready
to install
the arrow
rest, the
peep sight,
the silastic
cord, the
draw loop,
and the
string
dampers.
This
involves NOT
dropping the
little
screws, and
using your
dexterous
fingers to
fix things
in place
using little
tiny screws
and wrapping
the string.
Using the
tiny “T”
square kind
of thing I
did all of
this despite
my total
lack of
dexterous. I was
ready to
sight it in. Out to
the target.
Pulllll!
Bwang! The draw
loop had
pulled out.
I had not
done it
right.
Re-install
draw loop
and melt the
ends into
big plastic
blobs. This
involved a
fifteen
minute hunt
for matches. Pullllll.
Bwang! The peep
sight had
pulled out,
I had tied
the silastic
cord wrong.
Re-install
peep, tie
cord
properly. Pulll.
Thwack. I
hit the
target about
a foot off
at ten
yards. Adjust
sights.
Multiple
times. Pullll. Thwack. On Target Set at
10, 20 and
50 yards. I could
now shoot as
well as a 10
year old.
Good enough. Pull
arrows out
of target.
The heads
come off. Lessons
learned. Buy
from a real
bow shop.
Pay for
someone else
to set up
bow. Do not
buy the
cheapest
internet
arrows. Read
the WHOLE
instruction
book.
Learn to lose at
board games.
MONDAY-TUESDAY EDITION: Not much in the way of ham news. I think everyone is hammed out after the weekend. I only operated for a few contacts and listened to propagation on all the bands.....What is it like driving on the moon?...Why the US Army wants an ‘aerial tier network’ for better communications .....
Larry- AJ1Z operating FD in Rockport, MA
Larry's solar array to keep things charged
Rich- W1FSR running his 7100
WEEKEND EDITION: Almost out the door to setup for Field Day in Rockport with the Cape Ann Amateur Radio Club..The ghostly radio station that no one claims to run... PORT CITY RADIO ARC SETS UP...NH
Here's our days
work...
Amateur Radio
Newsline Report
FRIDAY EDITION: Get well quick to Chris W1TAT now at the Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester..Nancy Polosi's husband arrested for drunken driving again in his new Porsche, who wouldn't drink married to her? ... 2022 ARRL Field Day Weekend -- Are You Ready?
06/25/2022
One of the most
anticipated
amateur radio
operating events
of the year in
the United
States, Canada,
and worldwide is
this weekend.
ARRL Field Day
kicks off at
1800 UTC on
Saturday, June
25, and
concludes at
2059 UTC on
Sunday, June 26.
Last year,
almost 27,000
individuals
participated in
ARRL Field Day,
logging over 1.4
million two-way
radio contacts
during the
event.
For 2022, there are some new rule changes in effect. Beginning this year, all stations, regardless of operating class, are limited to 100 W PEP transmitter output. The rule waivers that were in effect for the past 2 years -- allowing Class D (home stations) to contact other Class D stations for points, and the publishing of a Club Aggregate Score -- have been made permanent. Additionally, for groups claiming media publicity bonus points, the rules now stipulate that you must obtain media coverage for your event, not simply attempt to do so. For complete Field Day rules see www.arrl.org/field-day. ARRL Field Day is amateur radio's open house -- an opportunity to showcase what amateur radio is all about to the public. Some groups use Field Day as an exercise in emergency preparedness, others treat it as a competition, and for some, it's a social gathering. Field Day is entirely what you make of it. If you're a newly licensed ham and you would like to know where a group in your area is hosting a Field Day event, visit the ARRL Field Day Station Locator web page at www.arrl.org/field-day-locator. How will you or your radio club participate in ARRL Field Day? You can let others know about your planned activity before, during, and after the event via social media on the ARRL Field Day Facebook page at facebook.com/groups/arrlfd. When sharing your activities or photos, please use the hashtags #ARRLFD #ARRL #hamradio and #amateurradio. After the event, be sure to submit your Field Day entry to ARRL by using the web-based submission form at field-day.arrl.org/fdentry.php. Participants are also encouraged to submit their Field Day stories and photos via the soapbox at field-day.arrl.org/fdsoapbox.php. Entries are due 30 days after the conclusion of the event at 2059 UTC on Tuesday, July 26, 2022.
The Space Weather WomanThe latest space weather forecast from Dr Tamitha Skov WX6SWW
Portugal takes action against illegal communications equipmentPortugal's
communications
regulator
ANACOM
reports it inspected
26 vessels with the
Maritime Police Five planets to line up in rare planetary conjunctionBBC News report that five major planets in our solar system will shine brightly in a row during a rare planetary conjunction from Friday. If the sky is clear, the naked eye alone will be enough to see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn glowing before dawn. It's a special opportunity to see Mercury, which is usually obscured from view by the Sun's bright light. The conjunction is best seen on Friday but will remain visible until Monday from most parts of the world. The last time this conjunction happened was 2004 and it won't be seen again until 2040. Read the full BBC News article with illustrations DX News from the ARRLJune 24, 2022 This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by The Daily DX, the OPDX Bulletin, 425 DX News, DXNL, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. YEMEN, 7O. David, DL7ZM is QRV as 7O/DL7ZM from Socotra Island, IOTA AF-028, until July 3. Activity is on 10 meters using CW and FT8, and on 6 meters as well. QSL via QRZ.com ALGERIA, 7X. Special event stations 7R19MG and 7Y19MG are QRV until July 5 for the 19th edition of the Mediterranean Games to be held in Oran. QSL via IK2DUW and 7X2VFK, respectively. MADEIRA ISLANDS, CT3. Joe, HA2EAV and Csaba, HA2KMR are QRV as CT9/HA2EAV and CT9/HA2KMR, respectively, until June 28. Activity is holiday style on the HF bands. This includes being active as CR3DX in the His Majesty King of Spain SSB contest. QSL via operators' instructions. ST. PIERRE AND MIQUELON, FP. Eric, KV1J will be QRV as FP/KV1J from Miquelon Island, IOTA NA-032, from June 28 to July 12. Activity will be on the HF bands with a focus on 60 and 6 meters. This includes being an entry in the upcoming IARU HF Championship contest. QSL to home call. HONDURAS, HR. Alex, K6VHF will be QRV as HR9/K6VHF from Roatan Island, IOTA NA-057, from June 27 to 31. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters, and possibly 6 meters, using CW, SSB, and FT8. QSL to home call. THAILAND, HS. Jerry, HS0ZOY is QRV from Buri Ram. He is active on 160 to 10 meters. QSL to home call. OGASAWARA, JD1. Koh, JD1AJD is QRV until July 2. Activity is on 20 to 6 meters using CW, FT8, and FT4, with a focus on 6 meters. QSL via JA1ADT. BULGARIA, LZ. Special event station LZ18NATO is QRV until June 30 to commemorate the 18th anniversary of Bulgaria's NATO membership. QSL direct to LZ2VP. PERU, OA. Daniel, IK2SGL is QRV as OA9DVK until the end of August. Activity is on the HF bands using CW and SSB. QSL via IK6BFH. MARKET REEF, OJ0. Henri, OH3JR and Pertti, OG2M will be QRV as OJ0JR and OJ0MR, respectively, from June 26 to July 6. They are here on work assignment. Activity will be in their spare time on the HF bands using CW, some SSB, and FT8. QSL OJ0MR direct to OG2M and OJ0JR via OH3JR. GREENLAND, OX. Bo, OZ1DJJ will be QRV as OX3LX from Upernarvik Island, IOTA NA-134, from June 27 to July 11. Activity will be on the HF bands with a focus on 6 meters and 4 meters. QSL via OZ0J. GREECE, SV. Rolf, HB9TUP is QRV as SV8/HB9TUP from Naxos Island, IOTA EU-067. Activity is on the HF bands. His length of stay is unknown. QSL direct to home call. MACQUARIE ISLAND, VK0. Matt, VK5HZ is QRV as VK0MQ and will be stationed here for a few months. Activity is in his spare time on the HF bands using SSB and FT8. QSL via LoTW. ZIMBABWE, Z2. Members of the Russian DX Team are QRV as Z21RU from Harare until June 29. Activity is on 160 to 6 meters, and Satellite QO-100, using CW, SSB, and various digital modes with several stations active. QSL via R7AL.
THIS WEEKEND
ON THE RADIO THURSDAY EDITION: A chilly start but a great day... AMSAT Field Day 2022 on the SatellitesIt’s that time of year again; summer and Field Day! Each year the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) sponsors Field Day as a 'picnic, a campout, practice for emergencies, an informal contest and, most of all, FUN!' The event takes place during a 23-hour period on the fourth weekend of June. For 2022 the event takes place during a 27-hour period from 1800 UTC on Saturday June 25, 2022 through 2100 UTC on Sunday June 26, 2022. Those who set up prior to 1800 UTC on June 25 can operate only 24 hours. The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) promotes its own version of Field Day for operation via the amateur satellites, held concurrently with the ARRL event. This year should be as easy as last year since we have more than 10 transponders and repeaters available. Users should check the AMSAT status page at http://www.amsat.org/status/ and the pages at https://www.amsat.org/two-way-satellites/ for what is available in the weeks leading up to field day. To reduce the amount of time to research each satellite, see the current FM satellite table at https://www.amsat.org/fm-satellite-frequency-summary/ and the current linear satellite table at https://www.amsat.org/linear-satellite-frequency-summary/ If you are considering ONLY the FM voice satellites, there are ISS, SO-50, AO-91, PO-101 and possibly LilacSat. It might be easier this year to make that one FM contact for the ARRL bonus points with so many FM birds. The congestion on FM LEO satellites is always so intense that we must continue to limit their use to one-QSO-per-FM-satellite. This includes the International Space Station. You will be allowed one QSO if the ISS is operating Voice. It was suggested during past field days that a control station be allowed to coordinate contacts on the FM satellites. There is nothing in the rules that would prohibit this. This is nothing more than a single station working multiple QSO’s. If a station were to act as a control station and give QSO’s to every other field day station, the control station would still only be allowed to turn in one QSO per FM satellite while the other station would be able to submit one QSO. The format for the message exchange on the ISS or other digital packet satellite is an unproto packet to the other station (3-way exchange required) with all the same information as normally exchanged for ARRL Field Day, e.g.: If you have
worked the
satellites on Field
Day in recent years,
you may have noticed
a lot of good
contacts can be made
on some of the
less-populated,
low-earth-orbit
satellites like
FO-29, AO-7, EO-88
or the XW
satellites. During
Field Day the
transponders come
alive like 20 meters
on a weekend. The
good news is that
the transponders on
these satellites
will support
multiple
simultaneous
contacts. The bad
news is that you
can’t use FM, just
low duty-cycle modes
like SSB and CW. Bruce
Paige, KK5DO LesothoMark, KW4XJ, who previously operated as 9L1YXJ from Sierra Leone, has now moved on to Lesotho's capital Maseru and is signing 7P8AB. His equipment is an IC-7300 and a vertical antenna. Activity will be on various HF bands using CW, SSB, and the Digital modes. His wife Arina, KO4PZT, holds the callsign 7P8NB. QSL 7P8AB via KW4XJ, direct or by the Bureau. QSL 7P8NB via KO4PZT, direct or by the Bureau. WEDNESDAY EDITION: Last day of work and last time I will ever teach again. Some of you know I got a call to come back in November and teach voke after a teacher was let go. I couldn't believe they couldn't find another teacher but that was the case. It was quite an experience to say the least, the kids are nothing like the kids I left 18 years ago (I retired from teaching at 57 and went on a building spree with my partner). We built three spec homes a year and developed a few parcels of land as well as flipped a dozen homes over the years. It was fun and I am done!. I am looking for a home on a lake in NH as a vacation spot for the family..... Successful Morse code day in Open Air Museum ArnhemVERON reports
on June 12,
radio amateurs
gave information
and
demonstrations
about 'Morse
code as a means
of
communication'
to the public of
the Open Air
Museum Arnhem
Fidelity Amateur Radio Club to participate in Field DayHam radio operators from the Fidelity Amateur Radio Club of Rhode Island will be participating in a national amateur radio exercise from 2:00pm on Saturday until 2:00pm on Sunday, June 25 – 26. The event is ARRL Field Day (www.arrl.org/FieldDay), an annual amateur radio activity organized since 1933 by ARRL, The National Association for Amateur Radio in the United States. For the 2nd year in a row the club will be participating in Field Day from the historic New England Wireless and Steam Museum at 1300 Frenchtown Rd. in East Greenwich. Amateur radio operators from across North America ordinarily participate in Field Day by establishing temporary ham radio stations in public locations to demonstrate their skill and service. Their use of radio signals, which reach beyond borders, bring people together while providing essential communication in the service of communities. Field Day highlights ham radio’s ability to work reliably under any conditions from almost any location and create an independent, wireless communications network. Read the full
story at: Opening up more spectrum for satellite servicesOfcom is proposing to allow satellite operators to access more spectrum so they can provide a wider range of broadband services, including in hard-to-reach areas. As consumer demand for satellite services increases, we want to support innovation by extending spectrum access under our Earth Station Network licence to include the 14.25-14.5 GHz band. This would double the capacity available to satellite operators in what is known as the “Ku band”, meaning they would be able to use the full 14-14.5 GHz band for their services. This would support better broadband for more rural homes and businesses, as well as connecting planes and ships. In the future, these new frequencies could also help connect road vehicles, trains and drones, including in more remote parts of the UK. As part of this approach, new conditions would also be introduced to protect existing radio astronomy sites making observations in the 14.47-14.5 GHz band from interference. We also plan to introduce temporary conditions to protect any fixed links remaining temporarily in the band. Our consultation on these proposals is open until 31 August 2022. Separately, Ofcom has received licence applications from Starlink Ltd for six non-geostationary satellite earth stations. These are large satellite dishes on the ground that connect the satellite network to the internet. We are considering Starlink’s submissions, including whether they can coexist with other satellite systems in close proximity, and any potential risks to competition. TUESDAY EDITION: Trying to write this blog with a 4 month old springer spaniel wanting to play is no easy feat....Some dope at the gas station said to me, it could be worse, they pay a lot more in other countries. I don't give a shit what they pay overseas. It cost me 120 bucks to fill my truck up, half that a year ago. How much longer can we afford to be "Riding with Biden?"...2022 W1AW and K6KPH Field Day Bulletin Schedule ...40 meters was great last night, quiet, and lots of dx on ssb. A ham in Serbia was coming in S8 with no preamp on..... K1TP-
Jon....Editor of As The World
Turns.... SILENT KEYS Silent Key
N1IOM- 3910 colorful
regular |
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